A Great Father's Day Gift

I love Shutterfly They help you make the best gifts. This is what I am sending my dad for Father's Day.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

Purex Ultra Pack Giveaway

I love reviewing products. This is another one from Purex. It is the same product as in the Triple Action liquid detergent but it is in a pre-dosed square. Very similar in idea to Cascade and their dish washing soaps. This is a great idea for when my children do laundry. I can trust that they will get in the right amount of soap because it is all pre-measured. It is also great for times when we go camping because I do not have to pack an entire bottle of laundry soap, I can just stick this is a zip-lock and we are ready to go. It takes up less space and I do not have to worry about it leaking everywhere. It really did have the same exact cleaning capabilities. I was not disappointed at all. Once again I did opt to get the Free and Clear so that I didn't have to worry about what was washed in the soap. I really love that Purex supports us families that have allergies by always having Free of Dye and Perfume products available.

Here is some information about their new product. 

Give it a try you will love it.

What are Purex® UltraPacks™?

• New Purex UltraPacks are convenient pre-dosed liquid

detergent packs that make doing laundry easier than ever.

• Purex UltraPacks manage to squeeze all the performance

of our new Triple Action liquid formula into just one

powerful pack.

• Finally…No more mess. No more spills. No more heavy

jugs. It’s Laundry Simplified.®

• Each Purex UltraPack contains powerful 2x concentrated

liquid detergent, giving each UltraPack double

the cleaning power in every drop*.

• Purex UltraPacks dissolve quickly once the washer is

started—even in cold water.

• Purex UltraPacks are formulated and safe for all

machines, including high-efficiency (HE).

For Best Results
• Dry your hands before handling the UltraPacks – water
dissolves the film.
• Put (1) pack in the washer before adding clothing
(the more time they spend in the water, the faster
they dissolve). For larger or heavily soiled loads, use
an additional pack.
• If you have a front loader, make sure to put the pack
directly into the drum, not in the drawer.

If you would like to enter my giveaway for a free coupon please do so by using the Rafflecopter.
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Purex and Honey Bunches of Oats Giveaway

Enter for the giveaway to win a coupon for a FREE box of Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal

If there is one thing I love in life it is cereal. I really love Honey Bunches of Oats, they make a great quality cereal. It has 10 grams of Whole Grain, it is also low in sugar with only 6 grams. It is super good if you are watching for Heart Health with 0 Trans Fat, Saturated Fat or Cholesterol. Now a days becoming more healthy individuals seems to be a growing trend. This is a cereal that makes me feel good about what I am eating. 

What I love about this cereal over some others if that all three of my children love it too. Its reasonably priced, often times I can find coupons for it and they will pick this over some other kid like cereal. 

I also love that they are always coming up with something new. You can get this cereal in a variety of ways. 

You can get is with or without nuts, with or without fruit and now they have a whole new product line which is incredible called Fruit Blends. My personal favorite is one with Pecan Bunches. 

Well for one of my readers Purex and Honey Bunches of Oats have teamed up to provide me with some coupons to giveaway for you to get your own FREE box of cereal up to $4.49.

So go enter today and the winner will get a coupon in the mail from me.

Post provided a free sample of their Honey Bunches of Oats- Honey Roasted so I could review them. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Purex and Ladies Home Journal

Win a FREE subscription to Ladies' Home Journal from Purex Crystals!

Ladies’ Home Journal engages women with relevant conversations about health and relationships; beauty and style; food and finance. It’s for the women who recognize the importance of taking time for themselves.

Go to enter here

 

Tackle it Tuesday and Wordless Wednesday

Out of all the pictures the appraiser could keep he kept this one. This is not how the floor looked when we bought the house 4 years ago. There was tile all the way to the wall, within about 6 months it started pulling up. Hmm maybe that is because they laid it directly onto of wood flooring which was on top of linoleum. It is frustrating that there were so many unseen hidden issues with the house just like this one.

I didn't get much done for my Tackle it Tuesday this week. I worked on property taxes all day. The getting the information part done that is. I really feel there should be classes held on how to fight to lower your taxes. I do understand that each case is different but there are actually Categories under which you want to gather information so that you can plead your case. I did not know this. I also found out today that all the pictures I took- well they needed dates, and I needed a contractors estimate, detailed estimate I might add, in order to fight the idea that my home is not sellable as is. It would have helped to also know that the refinance paperwork I had from the bank would not be useful. It needed a detailed appraisal not just an estimate of an appraisal. They want to know WHY exactly I feel they are wrong and they want EVERY detail. What I also realized- this too will cost us money. However, it will not be as much as the increase per month of $400 on my house note. So while I did not do any projects I did a lot of research. I wish every neighbor in my subdivision would fight their taxes. We are ALL paying too much. Onto my Wordless Wednesday

This is our dog- Pilsner. He feels neglected lately because I am so busy. He consoles himself here- under my desk. I will admit the tile floor is probably very nice and cool.

Weekend Quilting Projects

12 T Quilt Biking MS 150 Shirts

I used a gray map like fabric for the border print

I used a gray charcoal flannel and a neat tire binding.

This is a new design for me, it holds 9 Tshirts

I used a black flannel for the back and a made cotton binding from the same fabric line but in black to match the front border fabric.

The front is a pretty gold scroll print fabric. This quilt is about 50+ inches square.

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Menu Plan Monday

For a long while it is possible that all our gas and food will be directly paid for by credit cards. I am very concerned about this but I am praying the Lord will continue to guide us as we fight our property taxes which accounts for the $400 a month increase in our budget causing this dilemma. This means I really need to be very strict about a Menu and sticking with it. Trying not to purchase any extras. Even though I have the temporary job for June Mon-Thur mornings the pay is released to me in July. I will be searching for a way to advertise more on my quilting and also make creative cheap dishes that the kids will all eat.

Monday

Omelets

Tuesday

Baked Potatoes

Wednesday

Tostadas

Thursday 

Veggie Plate Night- Mac n Cheese, Corn, fruit, mashed potatoes/yams

Friday

Homemade French Bread Pizza

Saturday

Frozen Salmon Filets and Rice

Sunday 

Hamburgers/Hotdogs, potato salad, baked beans

 

12 T Shirt Graduation Quilt

School Colors were Bright Red, Gray and Black. She had 12 shirts and chose how she wanted them for her quilt.

I tried to leave the buttons intact on these tank tops

I used a pretty red border for the front, a comfy gray flannel for the back and a made a pretty handmade black cotton binding. Its going to be a great graduation gift.

Thankful Thursday

Jakob still doing well All A Honor Roll, Perfect Attendance, Outstanding Character for National Technical Honor Society, Academic Excellence Pre-Calculus Dual Credit, Academic Excellence AP World History. Very proud..all going well in Spanish for his final and he has his #1 Rank secured for this year. :-)

Love this picture

Choir Donation Quilts

Five of the Six Choir Quilts made - these raised $940, one of them- the Men's Choir Quilt went for $305. Very cool. I was not allowed to bid on them. My husband said absolutely not. There were three I was interested in since my daughter is in the Chamber Choir, son is in the Men's Choir and both are in the Show Choir. I should have kept a couple extra pieces to make a sampler from, just didn't think of it.

This is a quilt made from 12 of this years choir shirt. I guess the kids didn't care for it as much as some others because boy did I have plenty of them!

I had used this gray fabric from the front in another order this summer. It sure was pretty. I will say it was not a big hit the night of the choir event though. It was the second highest bid.

The key to this quilts success was having two students names on it. A friend of ours was bidding on this quilt for her son and she got outbid by $5. WOW...I am still impressed that it went for $305. I ask $150 for them, $160 with the embroidery.

This show choir quilt was almost difficult to pull off I had to ask for a few extra shirts from an elementary school choir teacher and a high school choir teacher. I am thankful for the generosity as it helped me have plenty for this quilt as well as a special gift for their Jr High Choir Director.

I love the fabric on this one. This black scroll has been a fabric in many of my quilts this year. I am a little bummed that I used the last of it in these two quilts. I am hoping I can sell some more quilts so I can make another purchase. I love the way it looks.

The choir director loved the fabric in the Treble quilt so much that I pushed the fabric aside that I bought for her surprise quilt and made one for her in matching fabric. I found a couple cool shirts to include in her quilt. One is tie dyed and says Music is my Nature. I left her a blank square in the top middle row for all the students to sign. She was very impressed to get such a cool gift.

I chose a very special Letter Home font for her quilt, and found a thread that matched the tie dyed shirt. It turned out so nice. I really love it!

I have been Blogged

I love love love this soap bag she sells. This would be very useful in our home.

I am very excited to have my business blogged about by Rambling Designs 

What a neat idea to feature an artist every Friday. I certainly appreciate it since most of my business arrives from word of mouth or the Lord directing people to my ETSY page. You will have to stop by her site and see what she has to say. You can find her on Facebook as well as her own little store front on the internet. She has some very cool knitted items!

Just one more tadbit of information. She then passes on my information to three other bloggers, and it will be posted again in the following three weeks. I love how they each take a turn. Very cool thing to be part of.  Here is the information on that.

"My featured artists will go on to be featured on three more blogs this month. First on  Louise’s blog, then on  Karen’s blog, and then on the Indie Mosaic blog!"

 

Wordless Wednesday

Our new addition in their temporary home

Tackle it Tuesday

I finished this camp quilt today. I love how it turned out. I can't wait for her to see it!

This was a donation quilt from the heart for the choir director to keep. She loved it!

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful for the Word of God this week. I have really been relying on it heavily as I deal with emotions that stir inside myself. I know that the devil will use all sorts of avenues to create problems in our lives. I really dislike the feeling we get when we feel wronged, hurt, anger, betrayal. That feeling where your heart literally aches, your stomach is upset and you just want to sulk a little. Sometimes I find it is so hard to get a long in this world. We all have our own way of doing things and sometimes it really does not mesh with others. I feel several doors closing in my life lately. I am not quite certain why that is. I felt the need to close them for self preservation. I do not like conflict. I do not like confrontation. I will do anything in my power to avoid it. I will simply try to explain myself and if that is not understood my defense is to walk away. Right or wrong that is how I manage things. I have friends who get frustrated because to them it is not standing up for myself. For me it is trying to be Christ Like. I read for several hours this morning in the early hours of the new day. I tried to allow the Lord to speak to my heart and soul. I allowed his words to sooth over those feelings inside my chest. I went to him in guidance and prayer. I have always leaned to a verse that came across my path tonight In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Ephesians 4:26. I think its such a bad idea to go to bed angry. I know when I do, even though I have tried to work through it I have a very sleepless night. I toss and turn and finally fall to sleep, only to awake a short while later with those same human symptoms of anger and frustration. A verse that was new to me today, not that I have never read it, just that I had never applied it was: Ephesians 4:31 "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice." I looked onto verse of courage and verses of comfort also. I am just amazed at how the Lord works in our lives. How He knew we would need His word to heal wounds of the heart and mind. How He knew that we would need prayer with Him to move forward. I am so thankful I have Him in my life to lean on. I am thankful for His forgiveness and His strength.

 

DAR Award

I was shocked and brought to tears literally last night when the counselor of the school announced my daughters name as the recipient of this years National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I am always so proud of all three of my children. They are so unique from one another. I can see the Lord's plan before them and their contribution to society. This is an honor I have seen presented before to a young lady. I remember thinking of MeKenzei that night two years ago when my oldest was in 8th grade. Hoping that she would continue to grow and demonstrate the same great qualities. I never imagined that as a 7th grader she would be nominated for this prestigious award.

Some background on the Daughters of the American Revolution

"The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded on October 11, 1890, during a time that was marked by a revival in patriotism and intense interest in the beginnings of the United States of America. Women felt the desire to express their patriotic feelings and were frustrated by their exclusion from men's organizations formed to perpetuate the memory of ancestors who fought to make this country free and independent. As a result, a group of pioneering women in the nation's capital formed their own organization and the Daughters of the American Revolution has carried the torch of patriotism ever since. "

Her award states:

Good Citizenship Award

Honor: honesty, high principles, trustworthiness, loyalty, truthfulness, punctuality, moral strength and stability, cleanliness in mind and body.

Service: cooperation, meritorious behavior bringing honor to school or community, kindliness, unselfishness, true Americanism, individual responsibility to God, Home and Country

Courage: mental and physical, determination to overcome obstacles.

Leadership: personality, originality, ability to lead others, good sportsmanship, responsibility.

Patriotism: fundamental Americanism.

I think about her lately and how she has grown. A couple things come to mind. She had sought out to join a group called PALS, our oldest son was involved with the program and I was excited to see her interest. She was disappointed when she did not make it, however there were only 20 slots out of 100+ applications. Very difficult to choose I am sure. When she told me why she was so upset my heart went out to her. It was not that she could not be part of the group. She really wanted to be able to mentor students at the elementary school where she had attended. That was very important to her. Such wisdom to want to help others.

Then this past couple of months she has been really pushing hard to earn money for her own braces. We cannot afford to get these for her. She has been saving everything she can and now has $400. I think of the idea of saving for braces. What a huge responsibility. I think about the fact that she just turned 13 and realizes that I would give them to her if I could but that she has the ability to do something about it. She took it upon herself to save that money. Those are skills and qualities that we would want in all of our children. It shows great Leadership. Think of the world if we had a Congress full of leaders with such qualities. 

I am so proud of her hard work. Proud of her character and what she sets out to achieve. I can't wait to see what her next 5 years hold.

Thank you to our local DAR Chapter for this wonderful award and honor.

 

Choir Tshirt Quilt

Another Choir Quilt finished. I had the quilt top done yesterday but needed more batting.

This morning I was able to pin, quilt and bind it. Today I start on the Show Choir Quilt. Hoping to have it done by tomorrow morning.

Recent Quilting Projects

What I have been up to Lately

A camp quilt out of the mother's shirts, she had enough shirts to make two quilts. This is the first one.

The camp colors are orange and blue, so each quilt will be in reverse. I even tried using some little pockets.

Another Jr High Quilt for the silent auction.

Full View of the Choir Quilt

Full view of the Camp Quilt

What I tackled today- another choir donation quilt. The kids didn't seem to like this shirt. I had so many donations of it! So I made a quilt out of 12 fronts from various classes to remember it by. Hopefully a parent will like it. I admit I have never done one like it.